Rita’s phone buzzed. It was Jago.
I know the farm is busy so meet me at your bench, Seahaven Point, in 30? Please give me a chance to explain. I love you. Jx
With her stomach twisting, Rita went inside and splashed cold water on her face. Her mother had always said words spoken in anger were better left unsaid. Too bad, she’d already spectacularly failed at that. And she had to know why on earth he was seeing his ex-wife when he had so clearly said he never would again.
The April breeze, still sharp with leftover rain, ruffled her hair as she drove. She felt her shoulders drop as she pulled into the tourist car park at Seahaven Point. The view was perfect: the straight horizon cutting the cloudless sky and deep blue sea in half. She parked beside the telescope, which offered wide views of both Seahaven Bay beaches. She remembered how, when they were young, the twins had loved pressing their eyes to the glass to watch ships drifting on the horizon. If you looked closely, you could now see the yurts on High Meadow.
She took deep, steadying breaths as she walked to ‘her’ bench, the one that she’d often gone to to think, laugh, cry, and make life-changing decisions. It had been there long before Stan put one under the Singing Tree in honour of her Archie. It was where she’d run to last year when Jago had said they should stay apart, when they first started having feelings for each other. It reminded her just how muchtheirlove had always been a rollercoaster.
Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not yet. Not for him.
Jago was already there. Sitting on the bench like a kicked dog, elbows on his knees, hair damp, wild and unruly, just like she loved it. He stood as she approached, his face a mixture of concern, guilt, and something that looked like fear.
‘Rita… please. Now, just let me speak, OK?’
She stood a couple of feet apart, heart hammering. Any closer, and fuelled on pregnancy hormones, she wasn’t sure whether she’d scream, sob, or throw herself at him.
‘I tried calling you first. You ignored me,’ Rita sulked.
‘I know. I’m sorry. I was busy looking after Buttercup until the vet came.’
She folded her arms and glared. ‘What’s going on, Jago?’
He rubbed a hand over his face. ‘I should have called you. I should have told you straight away. I just… everything happened so fast.’ He glanced at the sea, then back at her. ‘Please sit and listen, just for a moment.’
After a long, stubborn breath, she dropped onto the far edge of the bench. Close enough so she could feel his warmth but not close enough for contact. His eyes stayed on the horizon.
‘I don’t want you thinking I’ve lied to you,’ he said. ‘Or that I’ve broken any promise.’
‘Jago, let me quote you again.’ Rita couldn’t stop her rant. ‘Over my dead body will I be seeing her again. And here she is, Miss fucking France, with the child of your best mate, the mate who cheated with your wife, may I add, and they arebothwhat looks like very much ensconced in your house. Doesn’t that suggest something’s been broken already?’
He shook his head fiercely. ‘No. No, Rita. She turned up out of nowhere. She and Donal are finished. He kicked her and Amélie out. They had nowhere to go. What was I supposed to do? Turn them away?’
Rita swallowed hard. She hated how reasonable that sounded, but her angry words still came. ‘Yes! She betrayed you so badly, Jago; have some bloody pride, will you?’Why was he so bloody kind, right when she needed him not to be.‘Her dad lives near here.’
‘Yes but her dad has a small retirement flat.’
‘She managed to stay there when she came down for the funeral,’ Rita spat.
‘She was on her own then,’ Jago defended. ‘A friend looked after Amélie.’
Rita’s eyes narrowed. ‘Poor excuse!’
‘Rita! Listen to me!’ His sharp tone shocked her.
‘No, I won’t. And what about her mother? Where is she? Surely she’d like to spend time with her grandchild?’
‘She… isn’t around.’
Rita raised an eyebrow. ‘Not around? Let me guess, off somewhere fabulous, sipping champagne with a Formula One driver in Monaco, is she?’
Jago felt his lips twitch. ‘… Actually, you’re not far off. Cannes with some count, I think she said.’
‘Acountyou say.’ Rita smirked despite herself. ‘There you go. Following in her mother’s footsteps, then. Glamour, danger, and a complete disregard for anyone else. I don’t like this, Jago. I don’t like it at all and well… there’s something…’ Rita stopped. If she told him now, maybe he would just ask Elodie to leave. The words ran through her mind:I’m pregnant. With your baby.
Jago softened. ‘What is it, what’s wrong?’
‘You scared me, Jago.’
